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An astronaut captured a spectacular photo of a rare lightning phenomenon called a “red star” – rarely seen from Earth.
European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Andreas Mogensen took pictures and images of the unusual lightning that passes over the Earth using a high-powered camera as part of the Thor-Davis experiment at the Danish Technical University (DTU).
Beyond the clouds is a wonderful world.
What you see here is an image of a red sprite on a thundercloud that I made as part of the Thor-Davis test from @DTUSpace ⚡Red sprites are part of a rare phenomenon called Transient Luminous Events, often abbreviated TLE,… pic.twitter.com/AA4h8anUIf
– Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) November 24, 2023
The study examines the lightning on the atmosphere and the effect it can have on the greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming.
A camera that takes 100,000 pictures per second
As part of the Thor-Davis experiment, Mogensen heads to the International Space Station (ISS) Cupola observatory module every Saturday to try to capture storms from Earth.
The ISS is orbiting the earth at an altitude of about 250 miles, which means that the space station makes about 16 trips around the world every day.
Last week, Mogensen recorded the “Davis camera” of the space station as he saw a thunderstorm coming over the earth. The astronaut was able to capture a photo and video of a red sprite on a thundercloud.
“The red sprites are part of a series of unusual events called Transient Luminous Events, often abbreviated TLE, that can appear above thunderclouds,” Mogensen wrote. at X (formerly Twitter).
“The red sprites form 40 to 80 km (25 – 50 miles) above the ground and as you can see in the video from the Davis camera, the red sprites appear after the thunder and more high.
“The Davis camera is special because it does not take a picture like a normal camera, but like the retina in our eyes which is sensitive to changes in light. , which can capture up to 100,000 images per second.”
Scientists estimate the size of the red sprite in Mogensen’s image to be about 8.7 to 16.2 miles (14 to 26km) in size.
Rarely Seen From Earth
A red sprite – sometimes called a red light – is an example of a weather phenomenon called a Transient Luminous Event (TLE).
Lightning often descends from the clouds to the ground. However, a red sprite goes in the opposite direction, going through the environment, like lightning in the background.
Because red turtles are produced above thunder clouds, they are not easy to study from the ground, and are mostly seen from space.
Image ID: All photos are from European Space Agency (ESA)